August Coup (1976)
Not to be confused with the August Revolution of 1993 The August Coup of 1976, code name Operation Bugspray was a coup d'état of the elected Socialist Party government of Francesco Russo by the Itaterran Armed Forces, spearheaded by the Itaterra Military Council, which would later become the ''de facto ''governing body of Itaterra under the Rovina Dictatorship. The coup marked a turning point in the nation's history, with Itaterra swiftly transitioning from a constitutional democracy to a military dictatorship. For the first time in the nation's history since 1848, the government was essentially under the control of one man, Major General Sondrio Rovina. Background The July Elections of 1976 were, by all accounts, tense and polarising. On one hand, there was the ultranationalistic, borderline fascist National Awakening Party, and on the other, there was the communist Socialist Party. The election, which occurred on 27 July, was a very close one, but the Socialist Party managed to gain a majority of 50.68% compared to the National Awakening Party's 49.32%. The NAP leaders were furious, and threatened the new government with a general strike against communism. Almost immediately, enraged Nationalists began purchasing firearms, mostly FN FAL Battle Rifles & Browning Hi-Powers, preparing for an armed insurgency against the government. This stockpiling would later contribute to the militia efforts in the coup d'état. On 1 August, two major events occurred. The Leader of the NAP, Vincenzo Hardini, met with Leader of the anti-communist militia group called the EDI (Army of Patriots), Quentin Rovina to discuss violent strategies against the government. Quentin's brother, Sondrio, a Colonel in the Itaterran Army, pitched in to help. He would later become leader of the Coup and Prime Minister of Itaterra.On that same day, 1 August, Marshal Tito visited Rievania and met with Prime Minister Russo to discuss matters of state. The two nations promptly formed an alliance, both of their leaders sharing similar ideology. Many anti-communists, including the NAP, boycotted Tito's visit, but to no avail. From 1 August onward, the leaders of the NAP & EDI met with both rogue AIF (Federal Intelligence Agency) Officers and Colonel Rovina. These men would become known as the Itaterra Military Council. Their plan: To have the army take control of major cities and arrest any and all known members of the Socialist Party, raid government offices, taking prisoners and finally raid the ''Concilii Forum ''building, arresting the Prime Minister and ending the Socialist Party's rule. All of this was planned for 16 August. The Coup On the morning of the 16th, at precisely 3:00AM local time, the first mutiny broke out in the Army barracks in Genoa, with multiple officers being executed by the mutineers and the barracks being placed in the hands of the mutineers. Soon, barracks and military bases across the country did the same, with the last mutiny taking place at 1:00PM that day. Soon after, at about 5:20AM, the Genoese mutineers marched into the inner city and raided the local Socialist Party office, taking 24 prisoners. Similar arrests occurred in Milan, where the mutineers raided the homes of Legislative Assembly members and took 58 prisoners in total. Then, by 6:00AM, it was Rievania's time. The southern barracks, whose commanding officer was Major General Rovina, marched out onto the streets of the city, this time arresting 304 prisoners in total, many of whom had no socialist affiliations, and some of whom were simply centrist liberals. The northern barracks did the same shortly thereafter. Only by 6:43AM did all of this news reach Prime Minister Russo. The PM declared a state of emergency immediately after hearing the news, and deployed the Rievania Police Service to fight the mutineers. The very first battle of the day broke out in Downtown Rievania at 7:00AM, when police fired upon the mutineers. The mutineers, however, greatly outnumbering the police, pushed them back. Then, similar battles occurred across the country's major cities, and in Milan, bombs were even dropped by Air Force bombers on the Town Hall. By this point, the country was in chaos. Multiple state governments, in accordance with the State of Emergency, mobilised tactical and riot police, but they were outnumbered by the mutineers and now by the nationalist militias, who had mobilised at roughly 7:30AM. Meanwhile, the Director of the AIF declared his allegiance to the NAP leader Hardini. At 7:45AM, a message was sent from Rievania to Belgrade, asking for Yugoslav support against the rebels. However, the Yugoslav Forces in Slovenia would not reach any major cities until about 6:00AM the next morning, by which point the rebels numbered 60,000. At 9:00AM, an hour after the state of emergency had come into effect, nationalist militias surrounded the ''Concilii Forum ''building. There, a firefight broke out between the police & loyalist soldiers and the militias. Prime Minister Russo's security advisor, who later turned out to be an AIF spy, directed the Prime Minister to an "evacuation route" that would, little did the Prime Minister know, lead him directly to a group of waiting mutineers, ready to arrest him. And so, at 9:13AM that day, the Prime Minister was captured, arrested and transported to a cell in Rievania Prison. Hardly any of the police and loyalists knew of the Prime Minister's capture. Many of them continued to fight in order to defend the man, all the way up until 12:00PM, hours after Russo's arrest. However, eventually, the nationalist militias overpowered the police, who were pushed into the heavily damaged building. At the same time, around midday, Rovina and his men had taken a loyalist stronghold, the Rievania Central Airbase, and executed the entirety of the men stationed there. The city was then put solely into the hands of the nationalist militias, as Rovina and his force of 2,500 proceeded to Venice in helicopters, to support the Venetian militias. At 1:30PM, they arrived in the city and utterly crushed the remaining loyalist forces, in what was the bloodiest battle in the entire coup, the Battle of Venice. By this point, the country had no real leader. The Prime Minister had been captured, but neither of the Rovina brothers nor Hardini had claimed control of the nation. The countryside, which had voted overwhelmingly in favour of the NAP in the year's elections, was naturally a pro-coup stronghold, and many farmers withheld essential food supply from the loyalists, draining their energy and morale. At 2:30PM, the King, Hayden II, due to the escalating tensions, fled to the old Habsburg-era ''Duce Palace ''to avoid the fighting in Rievania. Many people across the nation were confused by the rebels' motives. Everyone knew they were anti-communists, but were they republicans? Were they monarchists? Were they fascists? Nobody seemed to know the answer to this question. By 4:00PM, Colonel Rovina had returned to Rievania and had reached the City Prison. There, he ordered for the Prime Minister to be released and to speak with him privately. Immediately after the door of the room they were in had shut, he grabbed out his Beretta pistol and shot Russo in the head, killing him instantly. And that was it. The Socialist Party government had been completely toppled. The killing was, however, simply a formality, as 70% of the Party members had already been arrested. At 4:30PM, the TVs across Itaterra all changed to one program: The Government News Agency. There, on the televisions, for all Itaterrans to see, was Colonel Rovina. That afternoon, he declared to the nation that the Prime Minister had died and that the Armed Forces were to take over the government. He announced his cabinet, the entirety of which were members of the Military Council. To all Itaterrans, this signalled the beginning of a new order. This signalled the beginning of the Rovina Dictatorship. Eventually, the next day, at 5:00AM, white flags were hoisted above loyalist strongholds in a mass surrender on all fronts. An hour later, the Yugoslav Forces, uninformed of the surrender, marched straight into Venice, where a small firefight with the Itaterran Army occurred, prompting the Yugoslavs to retreat to the border. Aftermath A short, small border conflict with Yugoslavia immediately followed the coup, lasting only four days up until 20 August, when Tito flew to Rievania and officially recognised Sondrio Rovina as the Prime Minister of Itaterra, and the NAP as the nation's ruling party, though shortly after this action, Yugoslavia became the first nation in the world to sanction the dictatorship. On 1 December, Sondrio Rovina was, by request, sworn in by Archbishop Giovanni Colombo, Bishop of his home town of Milan, as Prime Minister of Itaterra. The only two world leaders to visit the inauguration were Ernesto Geisel, President of Brazil under their military dictatorship, and John Vorster, Prime Minister of South Africa under apartheid. The Eastern Bloc, however, was shocked by the overthrow of the Socialist Party, and the Soviet Union prepared plans to intyervene, but these goals were never fully achieved.